Autumn 1624
Europe is deeply embroiled in what will become the Thirty Years' War.
A young Philip Lord, once favoured at King James' court, has vanished without a trace, under the shadow of treason.
Outside the besieged city of Breda, Captain Matthew Rider faces the brutal reality of wintering his cavalry in the siege lines, until he crosses paths with Filippo Schiavono, a young man whose courage and skill could change everything.
Kate, Lady Catherine de Bouqulement, arrives in London prepared to navigate the dangerous politics of King James' court to ensure troops are sent to her mistress, the exiled Queen of Bohemia.
Within Breda’s walls, a foundling named Jorrit unwittingly stumbles into a lethal conspiracy when Schiavono hires him, supposedly to help sell smuggled tobacco. But Schiavono’s plans go awry and they are compelled to flee the city, only to be captured at sea.
If Schiavono is unable to prove his loyalty and ruthlessness to a savage Dunkirker privateer captain, both he and Jorrit will face certain death.
Meanwhile, in London, Kate is forced to fight her own battle against those seeking to coerce her into their schemes and finds herself trapped in a terrifying and deadly power struggle.
Driven by violence, treachery, and the sea's merciless tides, their fates collide.
A Lodestar of the Golden Age
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Judith Leyster - Self Portrait c.1630
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self-portrait_by_Judith_Leyster.jpg |
One of the reasons I love setting my books in the 17th century is that the art of the time was prolific and almost photographic. Each painting becomes a window into that lost past. The scenes of everyday life bring the period vividly to life in a way that previous eras never really were, as most paintings in earlier times were formal depictions of events, allegories, or portraits commissioned by the wealthy. One nation in particular led the way in this glorious artistic revolution: the Dutch Republic, where we speak of the flowering as a golden age.
Another feature of the Dutch at this time was their attitude to women. Visiting Englishmen commented on how strange it was to see women out drinking with their friends or stopping to talk to men much as equals. There were even two forms of marriage possible for women, the more traditional sort that gave all over to her husband and a kind that allowed her to keep her own wealth, manage her own property and run her own business.
So it is not so surprising to find women were also professional artists.
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Judith Leyster A Game of Tric Trac
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Leyster_A_Game_of_Tric_Trac.jpg |
One such was Judith Leyster. Her surname means ‘lodestar’ or what we would call the Pole Star today and she signed her paintings JL and with a star.
Being born in 1609 would have meant she was the same age as Philip Lord who is the main character in my book The Fugitive’s Sword, and whilst he began his mercenary career in the pages of that book, she was training as an artist, most likely with Frans Pietersz de Grebber in Haarlem. From their similarity in style she also probably worked with Franz Hals.
Judith was clearly very talented even in her teens, and by the time she was twenty-four she had been accepted as a full member of Haarlem’s guild of artists. Her self-portrait is wonderfully informal and vibrant, looking out at the viewer as if in welcome, her ruff clearly in the way of her work but there to show her status. It might well have been the piece she painted to gain admission to the guild. Within two years she was running her own studio and had three apprentices training under her.
It is possible that she turned to art professionally after her family suffered bankruptcy, but it is hard to imagine anyone with her precocious talent not wanting to become an artist, especially in a time and place where that was such an exciting thing to be.
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Head of a Child - Judith Leyster
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Leyster_Head_of_a_Child.jpg |
What I love about her work is that it is always full of warmth and life. There is almost always humour in it, indeed she frequently painted people laughing and clearly enjoying themselves. Not for Judith the stiff and formal. Her people move and invite you to join them. Most of her paintings also have a moral message in them as was expected in such artworks at the time, but it is usually worked into the overall composition in a subtle manner.
In her lifetime she was a successful artist, recognised by her fellow artists as a woman of great talent, and a professional colleague. Tragically, after she died, she fell victim to the misogyny of the era. She married in 1636 to one Jan Miense Molenaer who was also an artist, and they had shared a studio. Because of that, after her death many of her paintings were falsely ascribed to him and others came to be considered the work of Frans Hals. Indeed, Hals’ signature was painted over hers on at least one. Judith Leyster was all but forgotten.
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The Carousing Couple - Judith Leyster
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Leyster_-_Carousing_Couple_-_WGA12954.jpg |
Fortunately, in 1893 the Louvre acquired that supposed Hals painting which we now know as the Carousing Couple. Examining the painting, they discovered Hals’ signature was false and restored it to Judith. Since then, her work has gained in recognition and the Lodestar has taken her rightful place in the glittering galaxy of her Golden Age peers.
(c) Eleanor Swift-Hook
Eleanor Swift-Hook
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